Prevalence of mental illness in a rehabilitation unit for older adults
- aDepartment of Medicine for the Elderly, Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust, Wirral, UK, bElderly Mental Health Directorate, Wirral and West Cheshire Community NHS Trust, UK
- Dr DC Shah, Victoria Central Hospital, Mill Lane, Wallasey, Merseyside L44 5UF, UK
- Received 15 July 1998
- Accepted 6 September 1999
Abstract
The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was studied in 78 elderly people in a rehabilitation unit for older adults. The patients were assessed using the Evans Liverpool depression rating scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and Mini-Mental State Examination. Twenty-eight (35.9%) patients were found to be depressed, 15 of these also had raised anxiety. Thirty-one (41.0%) patients had significant cognitive impairment and 14 of these had associated depression. Only 33 (42%) had no evidence of either cognitive impairment or mood disorder. On discharge, 20 (25.6%) patients were on antidepressant treatment but only 50% of those had this diagnosis recorded on the discharge summary. Our results showed higher prevalence of depression in this situation compared with the reported prevalence of 20–30% in the acute hospital setting. We recommend that all patients undergoing rehabilitation should be routinely screened for depression as it is common and treatment will improve the overall outcome.
